Sweet 16: Hoosiers reach polls for 1st time

Don't blame IU coach Mick Lyon if he's been acting a little superstitious lately. After all, what he's been doing is working.\n"We're not changing anything right now, including the underwear," Lyon said. "It's one of those you don't change anything to alter the karma that we've got."\nAs the IU women's soccer team approaches the program's unbeaten streak record, the Hoosiers (8-2-4, 4-0-1 Big Ten) cracked into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America top 25 for the first time since Oct. 8, 2001, when they were ranked No. 23. The No. 16 ranking the Hoosiers received in Tuesday's NSCAA poll match the highest ranking IU has ever received since it was ranked No. 16 in October of 1998.\n"I think the girls were very excited," Lyon said. "It was a nice reward for some good effort and as I told them it's nice to be ranked in the NSCAA because you're ranked by the coaches, people who have seen you play and played against you and know what it's about to compete at that level."\nEven though being ranked No. 16 is nice, junior goalkeeper Stacey Van Boxmeer said the Hoosiers hope that in the coming weeks they will be able to improve on that ranking.\n"We were pretty shocked at first to not be in the poll at all to jumping to 16th," said Van Boxmeer, who on Monday was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. "But we're pretty excited about it, and we just hope we can stay on the charts and hopefully get a higher number."\nThe Hoosiers will try to improve this weekend with a game Friday night against Wisconsin (6-4-3, 3-2-1 Big Ten) at 7 p.m. and again Sunday against Northwestern (7-6-1, 3-2-1 Big Ten) at 12 p.m. Both games will be at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\nIU brings a 12-game unbeaten streak into the weekend. If the Hoosiers get out of the weekend without a loss, their streak will increase to 14, tying the program record when IU won 14 straight games between the 1993 and 1994 seasons. But for the Hoosiers, the streak is an afterthought. Right now they have bigger and better things on their minds.\n"We try not to focus on the records, and we're happy to get them," senior midfielder Ali Brown said. "But for us, we're taking it one game at a time and just winning these crucial Big Ten games and hopefully getting that Big Ten championship and going on into the postseason."\nBrown will be one of six Hoosiers who will celebrate senior day Sunday. In addition to Brown, forwards Carrie DeFreece and Megan Pipkens, defenders Lauren Dieter and Lauren Lamping and midfielder Shannon Vnoucek will all be playing in their last game at Bill Armstrong Stadium. \n"I know we're going to keep playing on past this game," Brown said. "But it's just kind of weird that it's the culmination of 15-plus years of soccer and all that I've worked for here in my senior year."\nLyon said he has a lot of respect for this year's senior class, which was one of his first full recruiting classes after arriving at IU from Evansville before the 2002 season.\n"They came on a promise of something great if they worked their tails off, and those six have absolutely worked their tails off," Lyon said. "The fittest, hardest-working group of seniors that I've ever seen and this is their prize. This is what they've worked for and what they deserve is this, which is having a great season so far, and I want them to continue and keep on playing"